1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical plug and outlet unit adapted to be plugged into a high voltage receptacle for converting the high voltage from the receptacle into a lower voltage at least one outlet forming a part of the unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many household air conditioners and other appliances require 220-volt current for effective operation, and some appliances require current of a higher voltage. On the other hand, most household appliances, such as lamps, radios, clocks and the like operate on a current of 110-volts. In many sections of the country where air conditioners are in general use, the employment of them usually is confined to the summer months, so that for the major portion of each year they are disconnected and placed in storage. Consequently, during such times, a high voltage wall receptacle employed to service an air conditioner serves no useful purpose whatsoever.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,363, issued to Goodman, discloses an electrical plug and outlet unit which is adapted for insertion into a conventional high voltage receptacle for providing a reduced voltage at each of two outlets associated with the unit. Accordingly, the Goodman unit can be employed as an intermediary to service low voltage appliances when high voltage devices, such as air conditioners, are not required to be serviced by a high voltage receptacle outlet.
The Goodman unit includes a pair of conductor prongs, each of which is adapted to be inserted into a respective hot socket of the high voltage receptacle. One of the conductor prongs is electrically connected to one of the contacts associated with one of the outlets of the unit, and the other conductor prong is electrically connected to one of the contacts associated with the other outlet of the unit. The Goodman unit also includes a ground prong which is adapted to be received within the grounded socket of the high voltage receptacle, and this ground prong is electrically connected to the other contact of both of the unit outlets. Accordingly, both of the hot lines of the high voltage receptacle are included in the circuitry of the Goodman unit, one of the hot lines being connected to a contact of one of the duplex outlets and the other hot line being connected to one of the contacts associated with the other duplex outlet.
If a child inadvertently bridges the hot contacts of the Goodman unit with an electrically conductive member and simultaneously touches a ground, the high voltage current of the receptacle will pass through the child. This high voltage current can cause serious injury, and even death.
The only fuses associated with the circuitry of the Goodman unit are the main fuses employed in the high voltage lines associated with the high voltage receptacle. Accordingly, these fuses generally have a lower resistance (i.e. higher amperage rating) than fuses commonly employed in lower voltage circuits of the type provided at the outlets of the Goodman unit. Therefore, a low voltage household appliance or device being served by the Goodman unit as an intermediary might cause a sudden surge of current which would normally blow a fuse that was properly rated for the lower voltage outlet; however, this surge might not blow the lower resistance fuse associated with the high voltage receptacle in time to prevent damage to the appliance or device. In any event, even if the surge of current were sufficiently great to blow the high voltage receptacle fuse, this fuse generally is located in a basement, or some other inconvenient location for replacement. If a lower amperage fuse were directly associated with the Goodman unit, that fuse, rather than the main fuse associated with the high voltage receptacle, would blow, and such a low amperage fuse would be easily accessable for quick replacement.
Electrical plug and outlet units having a fuse directly associated with them are known in the prior art, as evidenced by the disclosures in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,508,770 (Oshinsky) and 2,454,024 (Alemaghides). These units are not designed for reducing the voltage associated with a wall receptacle. The units disclosed in the Oshinsky and Alemaghides patents are adapted to divide a single receptacle outlet into a plurality of outlets having the same voltage as the receptacle outlet.